A photographic record of the many historic sites in Ireland, that I come across on my travels.
All sites are mapped using Google maps.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Labbacallee Wedge Tomb

Side

Rear

Front

Labbacallee wedge tomb (Leaba Caillighe in Irish, meaning The Hag's Bed) is a large pre-historic burial monument. Labbacallee is thought to have been built during the early Bronze Age, circa 1500 BC.

The site is the largest Irish examples of a wedge tomb. It consists of a long rectangular chamber, covered by three capstones, the largest of which is 8M in length and weighs up to 2 tons. Three chambers lie to the rear of the monument. The site is surrounded by a wide u-shaped kerb.

Local folklore associates the site with the Celtic Hag-Goddess Cailleach Bheur, and when during the excavation of the site it was found to contain the remains of a woman. Although the body had been positioned within the tomb, her skull was found outside of it.
This and many other of the great sites I have put up on the blog have been discovered and found thanks to Jim Dempseys great web site which can be found here ! http://www.megalithicireland.com/index.html